A Bright, Sunshiny Day

Kristi riding Cricket

What a beautiful day!  We took an hour for a wander this afternoon, finally able to get around the gate into the county gravel pit.  Everyone had a grand time.  We had lots of mud & water, plus still some snow to negotiate, which was great practice for Tomas who is still fairly green on the trail.  

Rhio, Kelso & I are inside the gate already, discussing how best to get everyone else around the gate - snowbank on one side & a signpost on the other both threatening riders' knees

Christine & Tomas came through the snowbank - knocking it down a little more for an easy return trip

Not sure what he's looking at - this is on top of the small hill that I always have the horses climb when we're in the gravel pit (every little hill looks like extra conditioning to me!) 

The Yellow Dumbbell

Ok, so my hair looks a little goofy sticking out from my helmet!  You might also notice how Red looks a bit like a raccoon right now - he has shed his lighter colored winter hair around his eyes and his darker summer coat is showing there.  This is a common Arab trait. 

Heading north from the barn. If you look closely, you'll see Kelso ahead right by the snowbank.  It's amazing how much he blends into his surroundings.  I guess know I know why so many hunting dogs come in spotted coat patterns!

Red & Kelso & I headed up the road to Rhio & Cricket's barn 1 mile away to ride with Christine & Tomas and Kathy & Winston.  The three of us then headed out into the snowy trails out back.  The three horses did great together, and we were able to trot a fair amount.  We traded off positions in the group and everyone seemed content.  We did about 2 1/2 miles in pretty deep snow, so the horses got a decent workout.

Kathy & Winston - just sitting on our ponies and chit-chatting :)

Christine & Tomas enjoying our powwow.

Killian came along, too, and insisted on bringing his favorite rubber dumbbell.  He did drop it out in the hayfield, but picked it up again on the way home.  

Notice the dumbbell in the lower right!

When he's not carrying it around, he's rolling on it.  

Splatter

Much melting has occurred even since yesterday, and Rhio & I were able to trot the entire 7 mile route that we attempted today.  It was just our basic home training route, an out-and-back on Pioneer & Church Roads.  We started the ride with Becca & Kaos, and Katie & West, plus dogs Cash & Gunnar.

Katie & West (L) and Becca & Kaos (R) with Kelso in between - Rhio was actually leading at a walk! I think of him having a slow walk, but he was very forward today. 

After about a mile, however, Rhio, Kelso, & I continued on while the rest of the crew hung back.  We had a lot of gas in our tanks & places to go!  Of course, once Rhio realized the horses weren't coming with us, he was less enthusiastic.   After not too long, however, we continued along our route at a nice easy pace and had a really great ride.

Why do I own a grey horse?!?!  This is what he looked like after trotting 7 miles on wet, muddy gravel roads.  

And Kelso's sporting quite the mud splattered look as well!

As it's spring now & we're starting back into serious riding, I'm making tack adjustments. Today I changed Rhio's hackamore noseband cover from a fuzzy sheepskin which has seemed SO itchy for him (and he has an itchy head in general, anyway) to vetwrap.  The underlying noseband is stiff coated rope, which is too harsh & too abrasive for the long hours Rhio spends wearing it.  So far, the vetwrap seems like it's going to work well.  

I also rode him in Red's Synergist saddle for our first long ride in it.  Interestingly, he exhibited his leg-lifting behavior while tacking & mounting, but he seemed completely at ease in motion.  I wasn't completely happy with how his back looked at the end of the ride, though.  He had zero soreness, but a small patch of rubbed hair on the right side of his withers which was somewhat dry (indicating too much pressure there, I think).  I will have to keep a close eye on this.

Not only does the vetwrapped noseband seem less itchy to him, it's also a cleaner silhouette, which I like.   Now if finding a new saddle were as easy!

Gypsy & Ranna

Jodi & Ranna

It was nearly 50 today, and the spring melt is in full swing.  Now, I'm not fooled into thinking winter is really over, mind you - I have lived here most of my life and I know we're in for at least one more big snow storm.  March did "come in like a lamb," so we all know what that means.... But as long as this weather holds, I am going to spend as much time on my horses as I can.  First competition is 8 weeks away and we have winter flab to burn off!  

Gypsy

Today I rode a horse out of Jodi's herd, Gypsy.  Gypsy is TALL (at least to me!) and all leg, but I did manage to mount from the ground.  She's a very good girl with tons of hair!  She was as slow as molasses in January on the roads, but our brief excursion down the snowmobile trail revealed a new side to Gypsy.  She was light on her feet, and offering a beautiful canter for most of the trail.  Once we were back to the road, pokey was her middle name.  I also noticed she disliked being on the pavement and tried to always stay on the muddy shoulder.  She was solid as a rock, though, for all the mechanized modes of transportation we encountered and didn't step a hoof out of line all day.  

Jodi rode her young horse Ranna, and I was impressed with how Ranna took most everything in stride.  We started our ride on the shoulder of a paved road, and had icy patches & moderate traffic, including several big dump trucks.  Both horses were a little balky, but nothing significant.  We then did several miles on the mostly clear Church Road, including our favorite "home" training hill by the sheep farm (no sheep in attendance today, as they are probably as tall as the snow in their pasture is deep - so we'll be seeing them out grazing probably sometime next month). 

Jodi & Ranna looking ahead to the hill - the sheep live on the left.

We crossed the highway (it was totally clear & we couldn't even hear any traffic - odd!) and continued down the paved road until it became gravel, then decided to chance the snowmobile trail.  The footing was pretty good, with the horses only punching through occasionally.  We can't ride this trail in the summer because it crosses a large swamp.  We hoped the trail was deteriorated enough that we wouldn't run into any sleds, but that wasn't the case.  The groups we met were mostly very courteous, and although Ranna thought she might want to make a fuss about them, she was really very good.  Gypsy just stood there like these whining machines buzzed past her every day of her life.  We also saw a mystery animal up in a birch tree across the swamp - its profile looked rather like a porcupine, but it was really too far away to tell.  

We trotted & cantered most of the 2 or so miles we did on the snowmobile trail - a first for Ranna (long trotting!)

Overall, we did about 10 miles very slowly, in about 2 hours 40 minutes.  It was a grand day to be out, and my first sustained forward motion down a trail on a horse in months, so I was happy.  Ranna gets a gold star for her performance today, and steady Gypsy was the perfect companion for a youngster on a long & challenging outing like this. To cap off our successful & enjoyable ride, we sat on the deck in the sun & enjoyed adult beverages with bare heads & bare hands!  

Four Happy Faces

Yet another wonderously warm March day!  Christine & I took her kids Abigail & Carter out for a trail ride.  Abigail rode Cricket (and begged to go Western, even though the stirrups can't be shortened enough for her) and Carter rode the pony Mo. The kids groomed their own horses, but tacking & untacking fell to us "big kids" who can reach their backs and lift & carry the saddles.  Both kids did a great job piloting their mounts through the snow with smiles on their faces.  Even the horses were smiling, I think!

Abigail & Cricket

Carter & Mo

Abigail in the lead, with Christine & Carter hot on her heels

You can almost see all her missing teeth that grin is so wide!

Carter's big grin

Abigail & Cricket bringing up the rear - their favorite place to be

Rhio didn't much care for being made to hang back & go slow, but he did it. 

Just a little trotting to catch up

Hot to Trot

Rhio chatting me up for a cookie after our ride

I could tell just by driving the gravel road in front of the barn that the footing still isn't really up to snuff.  But it was 40 degrees!  Rhio's foot is looking awesome, my farrier was out today giving him a touch-up, and I had to hang around the barn for a few hours until my patients were ready for their acupuncture sessions anyway... so away down the road we went, hoping for the best!

How the foot looks today - fabulous!  

I saddled up with the Polar heart rate monitor, which someone gave me and I have never used before.  It didn't come with instructions (it's a several-times hand-me-down by now), and I spent a little while on the internet figuring out how to use it (or, rather, where to place the electrodes).  It is different than my other heart rate monitor, which I have found tends to slip on Rhio & give me false readings.  For some reason, it doesn't seem to slip on Red.  Who knows why!  I lunged for a few minutes to get him warmed up, and just used plain water for conductivity.  It seems to work fine and is a lot less messy than the various gels & goos often recommended for use with heart rate monitors.  

HRM components - 2 electrodes (square pads), transmitter (oblong labeled "Polar"), and the watch that shows me the read out

You can see the lead going to the electrode that's attached to the girth.  I hung the transmitter from the breastcollar.  The other lead went under the saddle at the withers.  This HRM puts both electrodes on the left side of the horse- my other one puts one on each side of the horse.  

Rhio was somewhat reluctant to leave the farm, which surprised me.  Going out alone was a big hurdle that we conquered last spring, and I really haven't had any trouble since then.  He hasn't been ridden in about a month, since the coronary band injury, and this boy likes to do stuff / be busy.  Also it's spring, which always gets the horses hot & raring to go.  So I was surprised at his balkiness.  It was mild & didn't take much convincing to get him to go, but I definitely got the pokey-slow leaving-home walk.  

Unfortunately, my assessment from the car was correct and Pioneer Road was a slushy, icy mess.  Even though I was riding at the peak of the sun & warmest part of the day, it really wasn't safe to move any faster than a walk.  So we walked.  And practiced our leg yields - to stay on the softer edges.  

Pioneer Road by the barn - every shaded area was icy compacted snow but the sunny areas were passable.

Once we hit the T at Church Road, the going was great and the road was mostly clear.  We were able to trot our hill by the sheep farm, and got Rhio's HR up to about 155. His normal trotting HR on flat ground is around 105 - 110.  I continued trotting Church Road until we ran out of clear road, at the end of the clear cut area from 2 years ago (where the dense forest shades the road too much & it's all ice).

Clear going on Church Road - you can see the clear cut area on the left.  We lament this section in the summer because it's so brutally sunny & hot - but love it in the spring when it's the only clear section of road!

Kelso enjoying himself

We've hit the end of the clear cut & have turned for home.  This is the last photo I was able to take until we got back to the barn because boy did I have my hands full on the ride home!

Rhio flipped his "on" switch as soon as we turned for home, and became the solid-fuel rocket poised for ignition that I had anticipated.  Whee!  Actually, the footing was so unpredictable that I didn't dare let him out a notch or two, and boy was he a frustrated pony!  He managed to refrain from bucking (good boy!) and only voiced his opinion by strongly flipping & shaking his head, and breaking into a sideways canter when I barely thought "trot."  He would go on a loose rein at the walk, but the instant I asked him to trot, we were off like a shot.  So, it was a much slower ride home than I'd (& he'd!) hoped. 

We ran into a neighbor out walking her 4 dogs, and it was interesting to watch his heart rate when he spotted the dogs but hadn't yet identified them as non-threatening.  His walking heart rate of about 64 shot up to 140 pretty much instantly.  So does that mean I can get a better cardiovascular workout by scaring my horses frequently?

Overall, we did only about 4 miles and less than a mile of that was trotting.  So it was pretty pathetic as a "conditioning" ride - but it was very satisfying nonetheless.  And the HRM stayed in place and gave me good readings throughout the ride - so the next test will be a fast ride to see if it continues to stay in place.

Muddy Kelso

Kelso wanting to play - I guess 4 miles isn't enough distance for him, either!

Rhio demonstrating good puddle drinking technique - this one happened to be the ice puddle right outside the indoor arena that had barely 1/2" of free water spread on top of the ice, but he found a way to purse his lips tightly enough to suck it up.  When this boy is thirsty, he drinks whatever is available - a very nice quality in an endurance horse!

In Like a Lamb

Thirty-five degrees plus and sunny clear skies - I'd definitely qualify that as March "coming in like a lamb." I don't want to speculate on what that may mean for the end of the month!   After a marathon grooming session (Red is my earliest & fiercest shedder, having already started losing his winter hair about a month ago), I tacked up with saddle & bridle (vs. bareback pad & rope halter - that's for winter and I think it's at least mentally spring!) for an afternoon ride.  Unfortunately, the gravel road appeared to still be too covered in ice for good footing, and I know that these spring rides get a little out of control sometimes as my boys have LOTS of get-up-and-go and LITTLE ability to listen closely to instructions.  What it is exactly about the warming temps that shuts their brains off, I'm not quite sure - but I always have a wild ride or two in the spring!

Just 3 passes with the shedding blade & I had quite a pile of dead hair already!

Anyone need a sweater?

We headed just down the road to the neighbor's gravel pit and into the area that was plowed back in January when the loggers were working.  Now, there is about 6" of snow in the plowed area, but it is not icy and makes good riding.  I was glad to be riding in my saddle (though I'm quite sure I must have shrunk over the winter because I could barely get my foot into the stirrup) because he gave me a couple of good spooks.  We cut through the hayfield, and then onto Dave & Carol's property where I decided to point us through the belly-deep unbroken snow.  Red didn't agree that this was "fun," but he did it without too much fussing & only a few halts to munch whatever poked through the snow (including branches - he is 1/2 beaver, you know).  The snow was soft enough that we could get through it, but we were definitely dragging our somewhat-portly belly in places and it sometimes felt like we were swimming through the snow more than walking.  

The view down the slight hill into the swamp.  We can only make a loop through this trail in the winter when the swamp is frozen.

We got back onto the tractor-tracks and made our way around back to the hayfield, with one minor setback requiring quite a lot of convincing.  Red stopped dead at a little downhill, very leery of the deep shadows & peaks of snow when the tractor tracks dip down the hill.  I think he actually has very poor depth perception, and the contrast between the bright reflective peaks of snow and the deep blue shadows within the tracks messed with his ability to tell where the bottom really was.  He is of the opinion that we must always err on the side of survival in any situation which may be dangerous, so he tried two or three times to turn around & go back rather than descend the very small hill.  I did succeed in convincing him to proceed, and, amazingly, we survived!  

The view across the hayfield - those snow banks are still all too present! But they are finally softening...to a point :)

I was very pleased with Red's willingness to walk all the way home - no jigging!  It was a great day for a ride.

Home sweet home

The new babies at the farm!